World Population Day: Experts want sub-national governments to tackle population control

As progress on the use and acceptance of family planning continues to lag, health experts and advocates are demanding that state and local authorities take responsibility for ensuring accessibility of family planning commodities and engagement on the importance of child spacing and population in the country.

The experts who gathered at the World Population Day Symposium held on Friday in Abuja, expressed concern over the lack of progress in funding that has been consistently allocated to the procurement of family planning commodities over the years.

The symposium was organised by the Population Association of Nigeria in collaboration with the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) to commemorate the 2024 World Population Day (WPD).

The event was themed: “Embracing the Power of Inclusive Data Towards a Resilient and Equitable Future for All,” focusing on the necessity of family planning in addressing demographic challenges and opportunities in Nigeria.

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Participants at the event emphasised that sub-national governments must work with the national government to prevent unchecked population growth that would affect the country’s ability to profit from quality healthcare.

According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Health, Salma Ibrahim, family planning is one of the most effective methods of addressing the incessant population growth and simultaneously for maternal mortality.

Mrs Salma said overpopulation in developing economies presents its own set of challenges, saying it impedes efforts to eradicate poverty and inequality; combat hunger and malnutrition; expand educational enrolment, and improve the performance of health systems to achieve universal health coverage.

“Together, these challenges are crucial to the attainment of the sustainable development agenda, and an understanding of our population dynamics as it grows is crucial to our ability to address these development challenges more effectively,” she said.

Maternal mortality

Also speaking, the President, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics Nigeria, Okechukwu Ikpeze, said uncontrolled childbirth contributes significantly to the high maternal mortality rate in the country.

He said family planning not only helps with population control but also drastically reduces the cases of maternal mortality.

Mr Ikpeze also indicated that there’s a need to reorientate the citizens on birth control and push for behavioural change and increased advocacy among citizens.

He said: “Family planning is important. In the past, a lot of children died because women wanted a certain number just so if some died, they would still have some number of children there. But we are moved past that now. Also, the resources to care for the children are not there.

“There are some countries with limitations on the number of offspring allowed and they are doing better than us. But here, we think numerous children are an asset and we need to address this”.

Similarly, the District Head of Gagi community in Sokoto State, Umar Jabi, said the high rate of maternal mortality necessitates the need to improve the availability of family planning for every member of the population.

Mr Jabi said: “The federal government is doing a lot but subnational governments must also take responsibility, especially with the procurement of family planning.

“Family planning commodities should be available for every citizen. It is an important healthcare service for every woman and man in the country,” he noted.

Cost of contraceptives preventing access

In his contribution, Ejike Oji, the chairman of the management committee of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) and the focal person for Nigeria Health Watch, presented the findings of a recent market survey by dRPC on the accessibility of contraceptives.

He said the report showed a financial barrier based on the cost of consumables preventing access to contraceptives and other family planning consumables.

“We saw behavioural trade-offs and availability and accessibility,” Mr Oji said, citing findings from the research.

Mr Oji said providers lamented how a lot of people have very little knowledge of family planning and the use of contraceptives.

The researcher said: “We saw a mixed behavioural tradeoff on the issue of investment of time and money in this survey.

“Further findings show that clients now prioritise spending on contraceptives over other expenses like hair and makeup.”